Destinations and SCUBA-inspired travel
PADI was one of the two big US agencies formed in the mid '60s — the other was NAUI — though both had their origins in programs like the YMCA and Los Angeles County Parks Department and, ultimately, university programs like those at Scripps Oceanographic Institute and US Navy diver training. PADI has since changed the face of recreational diving, successfully launching aggressive worldwide campaigns to assimilate and outcompete local dive organizations in many countries. Today, most of the world's divers probably carry PADI cards.
One of the costs of the tremendous expansion of recreational diving and the new paradigm that it is 'for everyone' (a better mindset, on balance, than the old 'macho' days) is a tendency toward increasing laxity of certification standards, even up to Instructor level, and an uneven output of instructors from instructor mills that churn out too many graduates who are not really suited for the job. Some agencies also restrict what drills can be done during a certification course, a policy that can be frustrating for some of their better instructors and detrimental to the beginning diver's learning experience and eventual competence. On the other hand, the trend toward egalitarian standardization also protects students from an instructor who is below par (though it'd obviously be better to weed them out or strengthen them during their instructor training). It's not that any agency is consistently sanctioning poor quality instructors, because instructor quality is ultimately what a certification agency's reputation rests on, but the profit motive can sometimes provides fertile ground for people who are in it for the money and shortchange their trusting students — probably a rare situation, fortunately. Some of the agencies also 'give back' to the activity in general and to the environments it opens to human exploration — PADI's worldwide income and influence, for example, allows it to be in a position to do many good things for the diving community and for the habitats that divers visit through enterprises such as Project AWARE and other activities.
My own philosophy is that a diver can't be trained too much prior to their first open water experiences — the more class time and the more pool time, the better. This may not be your philosophy, but it's not your Web page, either, so there. That's one reason why university SCUBA courses are probably the best way to learn (short of military training), though many have been eroded through budget cuts in recent years. Most universities will certify you as either NAUI or PADI. If you're interested in becoming a certified SCUBA diver, check your local university first, because it is hands-down the best deal and the most thorough training available. I have met people who want the shortcuts many dive stores or solo instructors may offer, and who would throw their hands up in horror at the thought of spending ten or twelve weeks learning SCUBA when they could do it in a weekend at Joe Cool's SCUBA Emporium and Bait Shop, but those people are doing themselves a disservice. Yes, some people probably are fast enough learners, perhaps experienced as freedivers, that they can become decent divers from a crash course. Even then, all things being equal, they'd be so much more prepared if they went through a university program or a similarly intense and protracted course. Some dive stores also offer long programs so, if you're not planning on enrolling in a university or continuing education SCUBA program, shop around your area's dive stores and independent instructors and tell them that you don't want the easy way out.
I think that the agency that you choose can actually be of some importance, as similar as they are today, because of the various philosophies and the types of training that each emphasizes. Some agencies still have undeniably tougher standards than others, though I know of none that are as tough (in the bad sense) as the macho paramilitary approach of yesteryear. For me, yesteryear was around 1979 to 1980, that makes me wonder if the instructors in my native New Zealand were about 20 years behind the times compared with their US equivalents. They certainly were in terms of equipment — I was the only person on my checkout dives who had a buoyancy compensator (I saved up all my holiday earnings for a Sea Quest Rough Water horsecollar BC, the trusty Dacor Pacer 900 regulator that I used until 1999 and may well use again, and a Neptune wetsuit) and my buddy and I had to share a depth gauge (neither of us had a pressure gauge). We'd learned how to read the dive tables, (the only thing in the course that I didn't already know from my rabid reading about diving during my pre-teen years) but wedidn't have them on the boat with us. Ever since I remember, I'd wanted to SCUBA dive. I grew up in the water...boating, swimming, and, most of all, snorkeling. I'd been itching for that magic birthday when I would be old enough to be certified as a SCUBA diver, and read everything I could find on the subject, cover to cover.
Fast-forward to our check-out dives. Before we strapped on the SCUBA tanks, though, we had to freedive to 18 feet and bring back sand as proof — I couldn't clear my ears but, after several attempts (between which my instructor sneered at me and expressed his impatience quite vociferously), was able to reach bottom, grab the sand, and redeem myself as a 'bloke.' To this day, I don't know how I got down that far without rupturing my eardrums and, several motorcycle and other assorted accidents later, it may still have been the most intense pain I've ever felt. Still, the pain might be thought by some to pale in comparison to the everlasting shame of 'being a sheila' (NOTE TO NON-KIWIS-OR-AUSSIES: 'Sheila' = Down Under slang for female, that was not a good thing to be called if you were a 'bloke' back then) and losing my essential blokeness because of a thing as inconsequential as mere agony and a desire to retain my hearing.
At that time, dive certification was done through local clubs — affiliated as the New Zealand Underwater Association — as it is in a few other countries (the United Kingdom's choices includes BSAC, for instance). I believe that NZUA was soon taken over by PADI and, based on my experience, at least, could probably have used the standardization. Among many other failings, our pool time was ridiculously limited...I spent one submersion of a few minutes actually breathing off SCUBA, and just a few minutes more breathing compressed air during 'doff and don' and gear recovery drills in the pool's deep end.
On what was to be the second of three check out dives, I failed to descend because of ear and sinus trouble. The instructor (and I use the term loosely) repeatedly accused me of being a wimp (actually, I think his precise words were the disdainful 'what are ya?' favored by macho and hairy males in New Zealand at that time), despite the copious manly-looking blood in my mask and the fact that he'd never actually observed me eating quiche at any time. I never completed my certification dives and didn't dive again for 13 years, believing that I had some incurable eustachian tube dysfunction. That belief was wrong and, though it took a bit of discomfort while persuading my ears that they were okay, I rekindled my early passion for SCUBA just in time to use it for my graduate research. This time around, I had the best instructor I could possibly imagine. I can't help but regret not diving during those 13 years but, as they say, good things come to those who wait, and I'm making up for it with a vengeance these days.
You're unlikely to run across such an abusively macho dive instructor nowadays, but my early experience at least reinforces the other eternal truism about SCUBA instruction — the first being that the agency you choose can make a difference — and that is that it's the instructor, not the agency he or she teaches for, that makes the real difference. A bad instructor for an agency that may have nominally more intense standards is less desirable than a great instructor from an agency that doesn't have the Navy SEAL training you were hoping for. Many teachers also have qualifications with more than one agency, if you're still concerned about which agency has its logo on your card. The instructor that resurrected my diving career and took me to a higher level than I'd even dreamed of, could have certified me as NAUI, PADI, or YMCA, among others. Today, I hold certifications for a motley bunch of sources, including NAUI, PADI, IANTD (International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and the American Academy of Underwater Sciences. My brother, inspired by his experience when we took him to the Florida Keys for his first SCUBA dives since being certified 10 years earlier, had a life-changing result. He's now an experienced instructor (formerly PADI, though he switched to CMAS, and also an ANDI nitrox instructor) and has taught in the UK, Malta, Grenada, Cyprus, France, and elsewhere. He eventually parlayed his time as owner and operator of a dive outfit in wreck-strewn Brittany, France, into a career as a naval historian and now spends much of his time researching and writing books on German U-boats.
The bottom line: familiarize yourself with the differences between agencies, if you feel the need (listen to all sides and then make up your own mind) but, no matter what, find the best instructor you can. Like many learning situations, from algebra to martial arts, the teacher can make all the difference in the World. Ask around, feel them out, and beware of the overbearing macho pig — they may not be in the same league as the neanderthal character that I was afflicted with, but their love affair with themselves will mean that you play a dangerous second fiddle to an ego usually associated more with certain gourmet chefs and ski instructors.
ANDI
CMAS
IANTD
IDEA
NASE
NASDS
NAUI
PADI
PDIC
SSI
WASI
NOAA Diving Manual
...part of it, anyway
Divers Alert Network
...not a SCUBA certifying organization (other than through their Oxygen Provider courses), but something that all SCUBA divers should belong to.
Gordon Maudsley's Scuba Site Index
SCUBA hot links
GORP — Scuba and Snorkling Resources
Freediving In Florida
...very nice site that focuses on freediving (and hunting)
Underwater Sports World
...has some excellent components
PHOAKS Index for rec.scuba newsgroup resources
Rick's Parables & Rules of Diving
The Hogarthian Gear Configuration
Stage Bottle for a Hogarthian Rig
...could also work for pony bottles
Gas Diving UK
...includes information on equipment configuration
Global Underwater Explorers FLYING with a Scuba Tank
The Little Book of Scuba Diving
...book excerpt
Latest news from famous divers
Threats to the health of the oceans
The Wreck Page
...from Diver magazine
Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page
Ocean Realm
...a stunning periodical, that's included some fantastic photos and excellent text. Seems to have gone defunct some time in 2002 (then again, maybe not).
Skin Diver
...once the world's biggest-selling dive magazine, Skin Diver somehow became an offensive advertorial during the '80s ("Scam Diver") but in the late '90s it recovered its editorial sensibilities and suddenly went back closer to the way it should have been...the magazine went under in 2002, for some reason, but their Web presence is still up and running
On-The-Edge Magazine
...an electronic magazine
Diver
...from Canada
Scuba Diver
...an Australian/New Zealand magazine
Marine Diving
...from Japan
Diver
...from the UK
Undercurrent
...the so-called Consumer Reports of diving, but take what you read in there with a grain of salt lest you be swayed by a contributor with an agenda, an attitude problem that led to them being dissatisfied with a situation, or some other problem — let your research into a desination, vendor, or product extend beyond this publication.
...bit of background here: two people on one of the Earthwatch teams that joined me in Papua New Guinea, in 1997, wrote a front-page 'review' of their experience for Undercurrent. The people were very nice and we got on well in the field — both my assistant and I liked them a lot. The article does, though, contain a few inaccuracies and certain elements are — quite naturally, of course — somewhat skewed by their particular perspective, background, and abilities. In all, though, it is a fairly positive piece. Still, I'm not sure it is entirely appropriate to compare a scientific research expedition (complete with 'rustic' facilities, compared with many dive resorts...though the facility we were using was far better than most and I cerainly found nothing worth complaining about) with the kind of luxurious resort and liveaboard diving that Undercurrent typically covers. Also, I'm not sure it was totally fair to the funding agency — Earthwatch — because any negative aspects of the review (whether real or perceived) could taint a potential volunteer's view of an organization that boasts a tremendous diversity of research-experience opportunities, in several disciplines, occurring in a myriad of places all around the world.
I didn't know about the article until one of the other volunteers who joined me in PNG kindly sent a copy of it to me. The reason that I caution you to be careful when reading reviews in Undercurrent and its ilk, even though they are vehemently unbiased in terms of the frequent correlation between advertising dollars and positive reviews, is that the reviews are still biased...almost inevitably, really. To really understand such a review — even some I've read where the dive operation sounds like a complete and total nightmare — you have to know the background of the writer and any agenda that they might have. Also, it'd sure be nice to hear a bit of rebuttal from the other side (sometimes you do — frequently on an Internet newsgroup, where an irate dive operator or a person who was on the same dive trip challenges the writer's assertions and perhaps points out that they were a total dead loss as a human being). I certainly wasn't going to pen an angry letter to Undercurrent because a) I knew who wrote it and a bit of the background, b) I didn't think it was necessary to make a scientific venture the focal point of some shouting match, and c) there really wasn't anything much to shout about, because the tone was, overall, fairly positive. Still, I had an inkling of how a decent dive operator — wrongfully skewered by a negative review in one of these 'objective' publications — might feel. And you just know that the fact these publications make such a big deal about not being influenced by commercial concerns causes a lot of people to blindly accept all that's written therein as gospel. Further, without knowing who wrote the piece there's not a lot a person in that position can do about it, and the damage may have already been done to his or her reputation even if a rebuttal is sent in and published.
Case in point, though it happened on the Internet, not in Undercurrent: Bruce Bowker, owner of the Carib Inn in Bonaire, came under vicious attack from a person claiming that his operation was unsafe, etc, etc. Mr Bowker and his resort are widely regarded as perhaps the best in Bonaire, and he has a very loyal clientele that returns again and again, so the irate customer's claims were perplexing to all on what was then the rec.scuba newsgroup. Eventually, the truth came out: the woman who complained so strongly and frequently, and who made such wild allegations, was a former employee (male, at that) who held a grudge against Mr Bowker and decided to get back at him through the supposed anonymity of the Internet. Plenty of similar examples have since accumulated on the Internet, the general pattern being that negativity, once unleashed, can do irreparable harm to reputations and livelihoods in a field as insular as the dive-travel industry.
Yes, publications like Undercurrent can be useful in deciding where to spend your money, but don't let anyone tell you that the information is unbiased — even if the bias is not wildly influential on the article's tone or conclusions, it's still there, by definition. Basically, it comes down to the guideline you've already heard a thousand times: don't believe everything you read...including all of this.
By the way...the reason that I don't subscribe to Undercurrent is simply that it's very expensive — testimony to their refusal to be subsidized by advertisers — and that the same kind of information (opinion, really, subject to all of the same biases as is that publication) is readily and considerably less expensively available on the Internet these days. Undercurrent could probably cut the subscription price considerably if they didn't keep mailing out a subscription offer to me every week, too....
Worldwide
Diving around the World
....courtesy of the British Dive International magazine
Dive travel
...via another British magazine, Diver
Michael McFadyen's Overseas Dive Sites
Small Islands Information Network
See & Sea Travel
...now defunct as a commercial entity but still a great web site from an expert on dive travel
Three Routes Worldwide SCUBA Diving Directory
International Diving Expeditions
Indo-Pacific
Bilikiki Cruises
...in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands dive sites — Inta-Dive
Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving — New Caledonia
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
University of Queensland Underwater Club
Truk Lagoon — the last 50 years
The Official Bikini Atoll Web Site
Manta Ray Bay Hotel and Yap Divers
The Bunaken National Marine Park
Bunaken Marine Park — The Dive Sites
Kungkungan Bay Resort
...in northeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
North Sulawesi Indonesia — Diving Bunaken and the Lembeh Strait
Wakatobi Dive Resort (South Sulawesi, Indonesia)
A diver's Disneyland
...Ambon, Inonesia
Bregard's Site
...information about Indonesian diving
Internet Diver's Guide: The Red Sea
Ocean Concepts Hawaii
...Oahu diving
Western Atlantic and Caribbean
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Wreck diving off North Carolina
Caribbean dive in
...from Rodale's SCUBA Diving
Internet Diver's Guide: Cayman Islands
Other parts of the World
SCUBA in British Columbia, Canada
African Shark Diving Adventures
The Ship's Helm
...wrecks of the Great Lakes (US)
Guide to Historic Wreck Sites
...in the United Kingdom
Please click here for more travel information, including dive destinations and travel health and safety...
I've got gear from all of the following manufacturers for all of those reasons, starting with the legendary Dacor Pacer 900 (at the time I traded all of my holiday earnings for it, in 1980, it was the top of their line and quite an innovative rig) and a SeaQuest Rough Water horsecollar buoyancy compensator, that is a similarly bulletproof unit. The horsecollar, still in beautiful condition, hangs in my closet awaiting its destiny as a pristine museum piece (I found the jacket-style BCs, that SeaQuest also excells in producing, a tad more comfortable) and the trusty Pacer 900 is still soldiering on as sturdily as ever. Its original black rubber mouthpiece finally succumbed in 1997, while I was in Papua New Guinea, and I was unable to get most of the newfangled, wimpy, mouthpieces to last more than three dives in its place — one lasted exactly half a dive, putting the lie to the statement made back in the early '80s that the newfangled silicone equipment would far outlast the traditional black rubber (an old black rubber mask I sometimes carry around as backup these days further attests to the fallacy of silicone being a vastly superior medium for dive gear construction). My new Sherwood Oasis regulator has done a pretty good job of recapturing the Pacer's glory in a unit that's several generations' worth of development lighter and thus more suited to the ridiculous luggage limitations often imposed on trans-Pacific travelers. In this day of featherweight second stages and little or no discernible exhaust tees, it's the only one I could find that apparently does at least as good a job at bubble dispersion as the old all-metal dinosaurs did. My even newer Mares Abyss initially had me a bit worried because iof its typically-short exhaust tee, but I figured that at least it's metal construction in an age where plastics reign and metal second-stages have almost gone the way of the mighty Pacer 900. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an overpriced piece of junk...
Between my first SCUBA experiences and my return to it in 1992, the basic dive gear that I'd once known became barely recognizable, being available in a multitude of dayglo colors and including such exotica as padded weight belts and electronic doodads called dive computers. The change is ongoing and, refreshingly, most of the modifications and innovations are actually of benefit, rather than being mere gimmicks. One of the major changes in the last decade or two has been greater awareness of the growing numbers of women swelling the ranks of certified divers and now several companies are manufacturing equipment designed, from the ground up, to fit women.
Every diver has their prejudices and (often quite vehement and irrationally powerful) opinions on different brands of dive gear — here are some of mine...
Oceanic
...has a reputation for producing high-quality gear at a good price. Particularly touted these days are their line of computers and their regulators, especially the Delta (my brother is a big fan of the Delta). I've only had the pleasure of a couple of nice pairs of gloves from them, so far.
Tusa
...formerly better known as the US branch of Tabata ('TUSA' = 'Tabata USA'). This gear is extremely widely distributed and seems to be all the rage (along with Apollo) Down Under, in Australia, New Zealand, and much of the Austro-Malay Archipelago. My early experience with them was limited to a BC and Hyperdry snorkel. The snorkel leaked for a long time from the bottom purge valve and finally died an early death on one of my PNG trips and so, eventually, did the battered BC. Still, their products always seemed well made and you can get a good price on them if you shop around. My wife has Tusa Liberator mask, fins, and Hyperdry snorkel and all are perfect for her (the basic Liberator fins would certainly be too floppy to do me any good while SCUBA diving, though). In 1999 I replaced my ailing US Divers Scan mask with a Tusa Imprex Hyperdry mask, complete with purge valve (funny how purge valves, that fell out of favor during the '80s — probably because of their looks — came back n the late '90s and were hailed, obviously by people with short memories, as a remarkable innovation). I love the mask and my only quibble would be that the nose pocket is hard to reach for equalization, especially by the right hand, though I get around that all right and consider the mask a true classic for those of us who prefer the single-pane frontal view. The mask's purge is flawless, too.
Aqualung (until recently, known as 'US Divers')
...mega-manufacturer that's also popular beyond US borders. I'm still in the habit of calling it 'US Divers,' but the company's recently been named (or re-named) 'Aqualung' in the United States. Back in the late '70s just about everyone that I knew in New Zealand used a USD Conshelf or Aquarius regulator, that shared reputations for toughness and reliability, and their more recent descendents seem to be keeping up the good work. I'm a big fan of their Blades fins, that were also highly-rated by Rodale's. I've had mine since 1993 and they still have many years of life left in them, despite some rough treatment overseas and having to work against some vicious currents. For a long time I used a USD Scan 3 mask even though the light and peripheral vision that comes from its side windows are theoretically suboptimal for photo and video endeavors (it's also a high volume mask — I like that, many don't). My well-used Scan mask still lives but it's a bit wonky these days and I've put it aside for now.
Sea Quest
...probably best-known for their excellent buoyancy compensators, though they also carry a full line of other SCUBA gear (and snorkeling gear, as well as the Knives Formerly Known As Wenoka) that always rates very highly in the tests run by Rodale's. I've got two of their computers (manufactured by Finland's Suunto...my mother-in-law is of Finnish extraction and would probably be glad to know I'm trusting my life to Finnish technology!) and love them. One is a trusty Companion (now replaced, in the US, at least, by the Favor) that I've had since 1993 and the other is a Favor Air Lux air-integrated computer that I added to the collection in 1999 (itself now replaced by newer models). They've got higher-tech computers, as do other manufacturers, but (apart from often prohibitive prices) none appealed to me as much as the Favor Air Lux because it gives me the benefits of air-integration and a backlit display — especially handy on night dives when I'm already dealing with a camera housing, making checking the display with a flashlight problematic — and, as much fun as it might be, I really don't need the PC-interface capability of most air-integrated computers. Besides, most of the software for that feature is Windows-only, and I'm a happily-confirmed Macintosh user. I also had no interest in hoseless units, because I've seen a few too many quirks, even on the newer models, that are potentially dangerous and definitely annoying, all at phenomenally inflated prices. SeaQuest's BCs are truly excellent — in addition to my old horsecollar style from SeaQuest, I've got the Spectrum 1, Spectrum 3, and the mighty (but apparently now discontinued) Spectrum 4 BC with an Air Source secondary regulator. The Spectrum 4 is the one that I use on a regular basis when I'm not engaged in my work in Bermuda and is a superb unit. SeaQuest makes lower-volume and sleeker BCs, but I really like the pockets that come with the more traditional styles. I've also got a Wenoka knife, though I tend to favor my ancient (circa 1974) and blunt 'Aqualung' knife, and have a couple of pairs of fins from the company. Sea Quest is a great company, overall. It's hard to keep up with all of the mergers within the dive industry these days, but I believe that Sea Quest has recently been bought by, or bought, 'Aqualung' (above — the company formerly known as 'US Divers' that was even more formerly known as 'Aqualung').
Oztex
...make a full line (very many choices) of high-quality dive skins (and now wetsuits), under the DIVESKINS brand name. Choices include different types of lycra as well as Polartec, and include some of the most varied and striking designs out there for those who want to make a statement with their thermal (and/or solar, sting, and scrape) protection. My personal favorite is a most excellent lycra suit with Franklin Viola's photo of schooling barracuda across its chest — I'm biased, of course, but it's also a much more sturdy suit than other lycra suits I've used. The barracuda-design suit is now, sadly, no longer part of the company's catalog, but I keep mine in good shape for special occasions and it featured in one of the television productions that I was involved with in 1999-2000. Oztex also makes neoprene wetsuits these days.
Body Glove
...famed wetsuit manufacturer from Hermosa Beach, dude. I loved my Polartec suit from them (one of those emergency purchases made midway through what felt like ice diving in the Florida Keys during 1996) even though the knee pad's all but fallen off and the Polartec is delaminating. I was extremely unhappy with Body Glove's customer "service" division's belligerent response to my request that they fix my prematurely-declined knee pad, a workmanship issue if ever I saw one and supposedly under warranty, and decided that I'd boycott the company. Still, I liked that suit even though I last used it in 1997 (I got tired of the knee pad flapping in the subaquatic breeze and it became a matter of principle for me not to fix it myself or take it to one of those elusive people who can stitch such things properly). Polartec suits may well be a big con and an example of nothing more than successful marketing, as many now claim, but mine certainly seemed to make an appreciable difference in terms of thermal protection. My one-man Body Glove boycott ended when I secured a position with an institution that procured gear from the company at wholesale prices (though I secured that gear with grant money, so my personal funds have still been denied Body Glove). After almost a decade of successfully avoiding neoprene (generally a trial to get in to and requiring too much additional weight on the belt) I procured a Body Glove X2 3mm jumpsuit and one of their new Excursion 7mm suits — these additions to my burgeoning collection brought on by my move to Bermuda, where things can get a little too chilly at times. The 3mm suit is fine, and I don't need all that much weight with it, but the 7mm suit is still incredibly difficult to get into (not least because it has a skin seal over its entire inner surface, to prevent water flow) and the lower parts of its legs have been shredded by my struggling toes. Both suits are good, though getting in to the 'skin'-lined Excursion really is a tortuous effort because its inner lining sticks most efficiently to every bit of skin on my struggling body. The Excursion is also amazingly buoyant, and I'm never thrilled about having to strap on about 20 pounds of lead just to offset a suit's inherent buoyancy. It does keep me warm, though. Probably my favorite Body Glove product to date are the nifty surf shorts and top that are made of extrmely thin neoprene and some other mystery materials — perfect for wearing under a suit and keeping on between dives and also very comfortable in warm water on those rare occasions that I don't feel a need to cover all of my precious skin. Te shorts finally give me a worthy wetsuit-underwear substitute for the unpadded 'bicycle shorts' that once were so trendy and that now are so scarce. My 5mm Excursion booties are also great and I use them all the time (I love boots like these, with the sturdy, athletic shoe-like sole) — like the surf gear and the two wetsuits, the booties are part of my basic 'work' gear at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. A pair of Excursion 3mm gloves, with kevlar palms, helps keep my hands warm during winter dives.
Sherwood
...although they rate highly on independent tests, it took rabid recommendations from people I met while conducting research in Papua New Guinea to make me see the light — their products, especially the regulators, are said to be almost indestructible and perfectly suited to extended dive trips, especially where the gear might not receive quite the tender loving care it deserves. Check the rental stocks of many dive shops and you'll find that Sherwood is probably the most used regulator brand, further testimony to their gear's ruggedness and reliability. Their first stages have a unique method of sealing that releases a small stream of bubbles throughout the dive. Matt Weedon, my friend who was a great dive buddy for much of the 18 weeks I spent in the Turks and Caicos Islands, had the first Sherwood regulator that I saw in action and the stream of bubbles that it released at first had me really worried. I've got a Sherwood Oasis and a Minimus octopus (that I've yet to use because I ended up adding a Sea Quest Air Source to my BC). Sherwood also make a line of dive computers that is very popular and easy to use (I don't know about current units, but previously they were supposedly the same computers that were sold under the Oceanic brand). I more recently added a Sherwood Logic computer to my Bermuda research rig — it's an excellent and intuitive unit (an evolution of those earlier red-yellow-green graphic computers that rated so well), complete with nitrox capability and sold for a decent price. My only real quibble is that I have to hit a button to turn the thing on, as I vastly prefer the self-activating computers like the Suunto units of my personal rig. Further recent additions include an Avid folding snorkel (perfect for the BC pocket — a nifty gadget,but almost unuseable because of leakage) and a Sabre snorkel for times when I actually intend to spend several hours snorkeling and wouldn't necessarily trust my gimmicky little Avid. I also added a Shadow + octopus to my 'work' Mares BC, my Sea Quest Air Source having me quite pleased with the idea of integrated octos. Another great thing about Sherwood is that they have some of the lowest prices on their equipment; and it's really good equipment, not stripped down versions of some top-of-the-line item that they also make. I was pushed into getting a Mares regulator for my work rig when what I really wanted was the Sherwood Maximus — in hindsight, the coercion to buy Mares was disastrous.
Genesis
...really a spin-off from Sherwood (and, I believe, still under the same parent company), Genesis is also known for high-quality gear at reasonable prices. The console that my new Logic computer sits in is a Genesis one, solely because their pressure gauges are easier to read than Sherwood's ( unfortunately neither company yet makes an air-integrated computer). When my Mares mask proved unsuitable, I replaced it with a Genesis G-One — a really nice mask that I knew would be a really nice mask because it's exactly the same in every detail as my beloved Tusa
Akona
...yet another company under the Sherwood umbrella, Akona specializes in accessories and neoprene products and is featured in the Sherwood and Genesis catalogs these days. Their wetsuits look like real winners. My new research get-up includes a hood, some clips for the BC, and small and large knives. The small knife promptly escaped from its scabbard as did the larger knife, leaving my work rig knifeless. My trusty Aqualung kife, of Navy-SEAL proportions, lives in an old-fashioned scabbard within whcih it is held by a rubber ring and it has yet to get away on me — these newfangled click-in-place knife-retention systems are just not to be trusted, obviously. It's a pity, too, because the larger knife really was a nice piece of work. As for the rest of my Akona gear, let me just say that I hate hoods, and was dreading trying the thing on. My hatred proved fully justified because I wore it a couple of times and decided that I preferred the ice-cream headache that winter diving in Bermuda can bring on. I can't say that Akona made a bad hood because it's more a case, for me, of any hood being bad. When I was diving in a large aquarium tank, while making a film, I had to wear a neoprene beanie because a couple of the tank's denizens had tastes for hair and ears, and so perhaps a beanie (as silly-looking as they are, not that most dive gear isn't silly-looking) is my answer. Well, that and just staying out of cold water! Unfortunately, some of the world's cooler waters hold some great sights and experiences, so I'm sure that I'll again be dealing with my hood horror...
Mares
...I'd always heard how great this Italian manufacturer was but it wasn't until 2001, when I started work at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, that I finally got some of their gear. Actually, I went on kind of a Mares spree, ordering their virtually bulletproof Vector 1000 BC (one of the very few out there these days that isn't weight-integrated), the Abyss regulator (with MR22 first stage), a Mariner mask (that I wasn't able to try on before ordering), a decent pair of basic booties, a pair of gloves (it seems to me that most of these manufacturers' Amara-palmed reef gloves are suspiciously similar...), and the brand-new and apparently-revolutionary Volo fins, that I fervently hope were up to the standards of Mares legendary Quattro fins and not just some weird and aberrant gimmick that'd be out of their catalog a year later. I was considering a pair of the new split-fin style for my new work fins, but the Volo was what Mares had up for offer and I didn't think that you could really go wrong with this company. Like Sherwood, Mares tends to price its gear quite reasonably. Always a nice thing, in the generally overpriced arena of dive gear sales. I also picked up a mesh backpack from Mares that I used primarily for expeditions to the grocery store, for which it's an excellent choice — it fell apart after about a year, though (not that the 75-pound loads that I was subjecting it to were what it was designed for). Unfortunately, I haven't had the best luck with most of the rest of my Mares gear. I am actually extremely disappointed, because the brand has such a stellar reputation. After almost two years of wearing it, my Vector BC still does not feel 'right' — it will just never feel as comfortable or as ergonomically-appropriate as any of my SeaQuest BCs (or, for that matter, the very similar Tusa BC) and I constantly find myself fumbling with various components of the vest while trying to locate zippers, D-rings, and dump valves (the rear dump valve also has a disconcerting tendency to periodically fall off). It's not necessariyl bad, and it's definitely rugged in construction, but it's just not right for me. What is bad, and dangerously so, is my Abyss regulator. Abysmal, is more like it. One day, fairly early in its life, I submerged and soon found myself trying to breath water. This supposedly high-performance regulator had flooded for no apparent reason and I'm just happy that it did so on a shallow Bermudian reef than, say, on some insanely current-swept and deep Papua New Guinean reef. I told one of my colleagues about the problem — he had the same regualtor at about the same stage of life — and he couldn't beleive that such a thing could just spontaneously happen. Sure enough, a day or two later the same thing happened to him. The problem seems to have been some kind of folding in the diaphragm, I think, and hasn't happened since, but it's hardly the thing to inspire confidence and I categorically do not trust this regualtor. What makes it worse is that this unit is both expensive and touted to be suitable for more demanding and deeper dive conditions...and, of course, it wasn't just that my example was a lemon. Besides, the thing does not breath well (and makes all sorts of odd noises underwater...again, not a real confidence-builder) and, even under the benign conditions that characterize most Bermudian diving (20' depth, no current), I always feel as if I am basically overbreathing the regulator. Another colleague, who had the same complaints about her Abyss (except for the water-filling one), said that when she took hers deep in the Cayman Islands she was getting almost no air through it. The Abyss may well be a great item, but all of the evidence that I have seen and experienced says otherwise. At the very least, I suspect that it's extremely high-strung (unlike those of Sherwood, in particular, as well as regulators made by Aqualung, SeaQuest, et al) and that's not a good thing in life-support equipment that is liable to be used under demanding conditions and subject to great physical abuse. The Mariner mask also didn't work out for me — leaked like a seive — although the typical dry try-on made it seem okay. It leaked particularly badly while I snorkeled at the surface and was somewhat less than optimal while on SCUBA. Just wrong for my face, I suppose...testimony from others who bought other Mares masks makes me wonde rif they're more narrowly-prescribed than most manufacturers' masks in terms of what facial types they'll fit. The Volo fins also didn't do it for me. I hated them, actually, and it felt as if I was getting nowhere although expending a lot of energy in doing so. Although not split fins — and split fins have now gone beyond fad to virtually domination of the fin market — Volos are similar in their characteristics and my experience echoed the accusation of others that split fins are no good in currents (or, similarly, at the surface, with wave action). It may well be that I wasn;t using the fins right, because split fins require a different kicking action to work properly but — frankly — at this stage I have no interest in re-learning how to kick and my legs are strong enough that I seem to do just fine with the traditional paddle fins. I ended up replacing the Volos with a pair of Mares' legendary Avanti Quattro fins, that (back in those not-so-long-ago days before the rise of split fins) Rodale's SCUBA Diving consistently rated as equal to the Blades in terms of power delivery and efficiency. Finally, a Mares product that does what it's supposed to and that I like. They feel a bit different to my trusty Blades, but basically seem all right (the fin straps don't last, though, the very nice ski-binding style of buckle perhaps wearing them out prematurely). It's perhaps telling, though that, when I went back to Papua New Guinea in early 2003, I took along gear from my personal rig that'd already been proven under PNG's demanding conditions, including my SeaQuest BC, Sherwood regualtor, and Blades fins.
Scubapro
...maybe the elite manufacturer, if you had to pick one. People who love this brand love it fiercely and it has a deserved reputation for standing up under wear and tear. For that reason, both my favorite dive instructor and NOAA's undersea research program in the Florida Keys have favored the company's products. At the risk of being branded a heretic, my personal preference isn't for the Scubapro BCs and regulators I've tried — they just didn't blow me away and, more relevant, didn't offer any noticeable performance edge, as high-quality as they may be. I much prefer buoyancy control with a SeaQuest BC (or one from another manufacturer, such as Tusa, that has some similar features) and breathing through my trusty, and much older, Dacor Pacer. The AIR 2 alternate air sources that NOAA had their BCs equipped with annoyed me, too, because they were heavy and hung down toward the reef like a little wrecking ball. Scubapro's also usually about the most expensive you can buy, though at least the quality is consistently high. My contribution to Scubapro's continuing and considerable financial health came in the form of buying a Shotgun II snorkel, that I'd thought was a good design since they first debuted and that I only bought following the demise of my Tusa Hyperdry snorkel ('Hyperwet,' as it turned out, because it leaked through the lower purge valve). I've come to hate the Scubapro snorkel, though, because there's something about it that causes me to drink more salt water than I've ever had the dubious pleasure of drinking at any previous time with any previous snorkel. I think its design, at least when it's on me, dips it quite nicely beneath even the tiniest ripple. It's probably no coincidence that it was during this snorkel's tenure in my gear bag that I finally began SCUBA diving with no snorkel attached, opting to keep it in my BC pocket where it couldn't drown me any more (though I basically dreaded the snorkeling sessions I'd previously loved so much — needless to say, my initial desire for the Shotgun has more than waned). I've now got a Sherwood snoekl that is much better and MUCH cheaper.
Dacor
...I had catalogs for Dacor and for US Divers when I was a kid — I pored over thsoe things for endless hours — and have had their rock-solid Pacer 900 regulator for getting on to two decades now. When I got back in to SCUBA, and added missing essentials of the day, like octopus and depth and pressure gauges, I kept them Dacor just to keep it all in the family (though, in the interim, the company had changed the diameters on some of their hoses, requiring an adaptor on the older first stage). Durng a two-month research trip to Papua New Guinea, I pronounced my Enduro octopus clinically dead (probably thanks to an incompetent/careless servicing, it began 'exploding' when breathed on, that came as a great surprise to my buddy when he had his first actual out-of-air emergency) — and the the final sign was when the Dacor logo fell off it. On the same trip, the SPG currently reading 250 PSI higher than it should — possibly easy enough to adjust for future use (if I or anyone else ever uses my Dacor rig again), but it made for some interesting situations while I was in Papua New Guinea, where the malfunction suddenly set in one day during one of my safety stops when I was happily breathing my tank down to near-zero. I suppose it's testament to the ease of breathing on my old Pacer regulator — too tough for wimpy modern mouthpieces to handle — that I didn't notice that my tank was empty until I was down to the last few molecules. The Omni digital depth gauge is still as good as ever (I bought it prior to my SeaQuest computer purchase) and the 'Reef Saver' console that my DDG and pressure gauge came in is still the best method I've yet used for keeping gauges streamlined and accessible. Making my usual slow ascent from 15' with no air, on the exhalation, was...interesting. The Omni computers and many of Dacor's regulators are supposedly still exceptionally good, as well, as are some of their BCs and basic snorkeling gear. Dacor is now owned by Mares. My Dacor gear is currently languishing in storage limbo, but one of these days I'll service it all and I'm sure that they will ride again.
Ikelite
...in addition to their well-known line of underwater photo and video gear, Ikelite makes a variety of great SCUBA accessories. Included in my collection is one of their compasses and two of the great little PCa Lites (I favor using small lights, but Ike also manufactures some of the big 'artificial suns,' too).
Action Plus
...my previous pair of booties, succumbing to the wear and tear of research diving after hundreds of immersions, were made by this company. I've worn their thick wetsuits before, on a rental basis, and found them to do a good job of keeping me warm.
Dive Alert, from Ideations Design
...a deafening air horn that attaches to your BC inflator hose. I bought mine because, with all of the diving that I do in areas of high current (especially while in PNG), it's probably a good idea to ensure that I make it back from each dive and get all of the odds stacked in my favor. I ended up buying a second one when I got my Sea Quest Air Source with my Spectrum 4 BC.
Pelican
...makers of more great underwater lights (from small to huge) perhaps even better-known for their virtually indestructible and watertight cases of all sizes — the generic term for such cases is often 'pelican case' as a result of their reputation, even if the case is actually made by someone else (the 'Kleenex' syndrome). My Pelican 1650 case is perfect for camera gear, even if it starts out weighing 20 pounds empty (bad news for those of us obsessed with trimming weight from our otherwise-excess baggage on long hauls). Two 1200 cases are similarly perfect for my Subal housed camera ports.
Princeton Tec
...makes some good dive lights and other SCUBA accessories — I've got some of each but their multiple Web sites seem to be kaput and I can't really link you to anything...
Underwater Kinetics
...I've got one of their small lights in my collection and a few other of their accessory products. This is one of those companies that produces a wide array of accessories, though they're probably still known best for good underwater lights
Here're some manufacturers that I haven't yet bought from, though I hear they're all good...
Zeagle
...especially well-known for excellent BCs and regulators at good prices, often with a bit of a leaning toward the 'tech' side
Cressi-sub
...an Italian manufacturer that's been around forever and that has many new fans
Apollo
...Japanese company that's fairly new to the US market but big Down Under — they introduced the first split fin a few years back
Harvey's
...makes a full range of wetsuits and dry suits that seem very well made (I like their mascot/logo, Harvey the Orca)
Poseiden
...Swedish SCUBA gear — the regulators are favored by many people, especially those who do a lot of rigorous diving, and they swear by them
Website Links of Manufacturers Of Equipment
Here are a few discounted outlets for dive gear — my experience with mail-order SCUBA is very limited, and many people don't recommend buying regulators and other essentials in such a manner, but it's your call...as always, caveat emptor...
By the way, most of these outfits also operate walk-in stores to one extent or another and you may well find that one of these companies IS your neighborhood dive store. Further, with the inroads the Web is making in commerce, once 'small-time' local dive stores have potential for growth, internationally, if they work the Web right. In other words, it's getting a bit harder these days to separate the local dive retailer from what used to be formidable (and sometimes unscrupulous) competitors among the 'mail-order' outfits. I've certainly been into the Atlanta location of Diver's Supply many times, bought one item at the now-absent Atlanta Berry Scuba (didn't like the staff at that location), and always visit Divers' Outlet while in the Keys (I've shopped at Key Largo's Diver's City, too). The sad part about such visits, especially to Divers' Outlet, is that I've more than once found an item priced far below what I just paid for it elsewhere — typical, really.
Divers' Outlet (Divers Direct )
Underwater photography and videography
National Marine Sanctuary Program
